1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat sink assembly, and more particularly to a heat sink assembly having a heat sink and a clip which can easily secure the heat sink on an electronic device, wherein the clip has an improved structure, thereby satisfying a labor-saved requirement when the clip is manipulated to firmly secure the heat sink to the electronic device.
2. Related Art
Advances in microelectronics technology have resulted in electronic devices which process signals and data at unprecedented high speeds. During operation of many contemporary electronic devices such as central processing units (CPUs), solid-state circuits, and light emitting diode (LED) display units, large amounts of heat are produced. This heat must be efficiently removed to prevent the electronic devices from becoming unstable or being damaged.
Typically, a heat sink assembly is used to cool the electronic device. The heat sink assembly comprises a heat sink attached to an outer surface of the electronic device to facilitate removal of heat therefrom and a clip for fastening the heat sink to the electronic device. The heat sink includes a base and a plurality of fins extending from the base. A channel is defined between every two adjacent fins. The clip extends through one of the channels and abuts against a top surface of the base, with two ends thereof locked on a printed circuit board on which the electronic device is mounted to provide pressure for securing the heat sink on the electronic device.
In the heat sink assembly mentioned above, usually, the clip is a wire clip which is integrally made of a resilient metal wire. However, this kind of the clip with a linear structure often only provides a very limited contacting area for an assembler to apply a force on the clip, in order to secure the clip to a printed circuit board so that the heat sink can depress a heat-generating electronic component on the printed circuit board. After a period of assembling, fingers of the assembler may become sore, resulting in that the assembler can no longer effectively proceed his (her) assembling work. To provide such a clip with a protective cover for facilitating the assembler to apply the force nevertheless increases the cost of the clip. Furthermore, for such a conventional linear clip, it requires a long length in order to provide the required spring force. An elongated clip is not favorable in view of layout of electronic components on the printed circuit board, since the clip has a significant portion extending out of the heat sink to a position over the printed circuit board.
What is needed, therefore, is a heat sink assembly having a heat sink and a clip securing the heat sink to an electronic device, wherein the clip has an improved structure so that the clip can be easily manipulated to secure the heat sink to the electronic device.